From the Newsroom: Bihar prepares for counting day, Virat Kohli to go on paternity leave after 1st Australia Test

In your evening news brief, From The Newsroom, NGT imposes a total ban on the sale or use of all kinds of firecrackers in the National Capital Region; Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav accuses the BJP of rigging the elections in its favour; Bihar prepares for Assembly election results day; Congress asks senior leaders to be in their place in all the 38 Bihar districts and keep a close watch over the EVMs kept in the strongrooms; Virat Kohli to go on paternity leave and TMC MP Derek O'Brien accuses Joint Committee of Parliament examining the Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 of rushing through the deliberations.

Hi, this is Ahmed Shariff and you are listening to, From The Newsroom— your daily evening news catch up show from Deccan Herald.

Here are the top news of November 9, 2020:

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday imposed a total ban on the sale or use of all kinds of firecrackers in the National Capital Region (NCR) from November 9 midnight to November 30 midnight, saying "celebration by crackers is for happiness and not to celebrate deaths and diseases".

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel clarified that the direction will apply to all cities and towns in the country where the average of ambient air quality during November 2019 was in 'poor' and above categories.

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A day before the announcement of the results for bye-elections to seven Assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday accused the BJP of rigging the elections in its favour.

He, however, did not elaborate on the accusation, and said he would provide detailed information after the results are out on Tuesday.

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Bihar might be on the cusp of a major generational shift in politics as it braces for Tuesday's counting of votes for the assembly election, with most pollsters predicting a landslide for the five-party Grand Alliance led by the young RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav.

Counting will be taken up at 55 centres across 38 districts where the outcome will decide the fate of the Nitish Kumar government that has helmed the state for a decade and half.

Most exit polls have predicted a rout for the ruling JD(U)-BJP combine and a resounding victory for the Grand Alliance.

According to Chief Electoral Officer H R Srinavasa, central armed police forces have been deployed at the strong rooms, where the EVMs have been stored since the completion of voting, and the halls where these will be unsealed Tuesday morning after counting of postal ballots gets over.

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Apprehending that rivals might indulge in "foul play" following encouraging exit polls predictions in favour of the Grand Alliance, Congress has asked its senior leaders to be in their place in all the 38 districts and keep a close watch over the EVMs kept in the strongrooms for counting on Tuesday.

Buoyed by the exit polls projections, the party has sent its senior leaders including general secretary Randeep Surjewala and Avinash Pande, chairman of the BPCC screening committee, to Patna for proper coordination with the allies and possibly also to keep its flock together after the results are declared.

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India captain Virat Kohli was on Monday granted paternity leave by the BCCI after the first Test against Australia next month, while his limited-overs' deputy Rohit Sharma was added to the red-ball squad after being initially left out due to a hamstring injury.

Kohli will miss three Test matches in Australia to be with his actor wife Anushka Sharma as the couple welcomes its first child in early January.

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Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien has accused the Joint Committee of Parliament examining the Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 of rushing through the deliberations at a time the country is in the middle of a pandemic and said it was "unfortunate" that the "essence" of the panel is being violated.

O'Brien wrote to panel chairperson Meenakshi Lekhi, a senior BJP MP, on Saturday expressing disappointment at the functioning of the joint committee, as it is planning to start a clause-by-clause examination of the contents of the Bill between November 11 and 13. The date may be extended depending on the completion of the task.

Source: DHNS/ PTI

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That is it today, From the Newsroom. Tune in tomorrow morning for our feature show, The Lead.

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